View full sizeThis is a photo from the cover of the "Wildlife Tourism and the Gulf Coast Economy" study that was released Tuesday, July 9, 2013, by economic research firm Datu Research LLC and funded by Environmental Defense Fund and Walton Family Foundation

GULF SHORES, Alabama -- From fishing to hunting to sightseeing, wildlife tourism generates more than $19.4 billion in spending across the five Gulf Coast states with Alabama having a $2 billion piece of the pie, according to a new study released Tuesday.

The report “Wildlife Tourism and the Gulf Coast Economy,” released by economic research firm Datu Research LLC and funded by Environmental Defense Fund and Walton Family Foundation, found that wildlife tourism attracts 20 million people annually to Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and funnels $5.3 billion in tax revenue to the government.

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said the study’s “outstanding numbers” underscore the value the environment has on the economy of Gulf-front states and their parishes and counties, such as Baldwin and Mobile.

After the BP oil spill hit in 2010, Craft said dealing with the possibility of catastrophic environmental damage to the Gulf Coast forced everyone to realized the impact of wildlife tourism.

"When we lose our environment, we lose our economy," Craft said. "That is the one overriding lesson that we’ve learned from this oil spill. I think it helps us recognize how important it is and helps us realize the requirement and the responsibility that we have to protect it for generations to come."

According to the study, Alabama attracts 2.3 million people to the state through wildlife tourism: 1,114,000 for wildlife watching, 683,000 for fishing and 535,000 for hunting.

Overall, Florida leads the pack in all categories as it draws 7.6 million people.

While tourism in general is responsible for generating 2.6 million jobs and 26,636 businesses across the Gulf states, environmentally linked endeavors are responsible for creating 500,000 of those jobs, according to the study. In Baldwin and Mobile counties, tourism accounts for 11,237 and 15,338 jobs, respectively.

“We take more than 7,000 people out fishing each year,” Randy Boggs, owner of Orange Beach-based Reel Surprise Charters, said in the study, “85 percent of those folks come from out of state. One hundred percent of my business depends on a healthy environment.”

With the $19.4 billion in overall spending, which is broken down by equipment, trip-related, and other expenditures, Florida generates more than $8 billion followed by Texas with over $5 billion, Alabama with more than $2 billion and Louisiana and Mississippi just missing the $2 billion mark.

The $5.3 billion in taxes comes from Florida with $1.05 billion, Texas with $818 million, Mississippi with $209 million, Louisiana with $201 million and Alabama with nearly $200 million, which the study says is equivalent to paying the salaries of 3,981 secondary school teachers.

The study concludes that, “Because a healthy ecosystem is at the heart of the region’s economy, restoring the Gulf ecosystem is the best way to help the region economically. The Restore Act and additional legal settlements related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill offer a unique chance to restore Gulf Coast ecosystems. Applying these new funding sources to restoration projects is an essential investment in restoring the coastal environment and the regional economy.”